Golf forum

Since i first started playing golf a few years ago ive had the same problem.

Has anyone else had the this same problem I have that their actual swing is nothing like the practise swing.   (ive watched it back on video)

Put the ball there & its like I become a different person swinging the club.

Its something in my mind stopping me from relaxing and just swinging the same when there is a ball there - so frustrating its driving me mad and spoiling my enjoyment of the game.  Over the 3 years since i started playing ive had quite a few lessons and the pro's ive had lessons with tell me what I should be doing techincally i.e the correct swing plane etc  but its a mental thing that stop me and no-one has managed to help me get it sorted.

Ive scoured the internet and cant find any tips.

Ive posted before about the problem I have that I can easily make a full turn in my practise swing but when i watch my proper swing on video its only half a swing.

Just back from a weeks golfing holiday and each group I played in commented the same - with my driver especially my actual swing is completely different than my practise, it becomes very flat and as if I am pushing the ball to the target.

Ive tried all sorts to imagine no ball being there but simply cannot repeat the practise swing when ball is there !  Ive tried to keep all the muscles relaxed.

If anyone has overcome this same problem I;d love to know how and if anyone has any advice or tips i'll give anything a go.

thanks all in advance.

J

You need to imagine the ball being there in your practice swing, rather than imagine it not being there in your normal swing. Visualising the shot, and having one swing thought is also what I'd advise. To supress all crap from my brain when I hit high single figures handicap, I used to count to 3 whilst swinging the club. 1 happened after the take away (Chinese plz), 2 as I approached the top of the backswing, and 3 was at impact as the swing accelerates through impact. It helps rythm, but also means you are thinkign about 1 thing, and 1 thing only; a rythmical swing.

That's what Sobey does....And look what happens to him.

Oh, crap....I'm dead....Again 

I agree with Tim,

personally i rarely take a practice swing except for 1st tee. sometimes i take a half practice notat the ball but as a loosener for my arms but at the ball i just step up and smash it.  try hitting the 1st few shots as hard as you can. If they go well great, if not slow down a bit. You tend to find a 75% swing works perfectly

perhaps you just think you have a nice practice swing but if there was actually a ball there during one of your practice swings it may turn out not to be so good?

I agree with Chris. When I do a practice swing I really concentrate on a blade of grass, then when I do the real thing I focus on a blade of grass behind the ball. Takes the ball out of the equation. Chris goes in front, I go behind, but that's just splitting blades...

In terms of Jon T's advice about rhythm, that's also important. You need to have pretty good hand eye co-ordination for this, but I sometimes do this at the range when I have half a dozen balls to go and the attendant is shouting "hey you hurry up".

Line six balls up. Take a practice swing and as you complete the through swing step forward into the address position for the ball and go into the backswing again (i.e. don't stop swinging the club or shuffle about with your stance) and either hit the ball on that swing or take another practice swing above the ball then hit it on the next one. Then when you've hit that one do another practice swing in the same position, then step forward and repeat for balls 2 to 6. What you're aiming to do is to hit six balls without stopping swinging.

What you might find is you will hit some great shots because your muscles and brain have no time to tense up. You're relying purely on hand eye co-ordination and a relaxed rhythm.

Either that or you will kill yourself with a wayward ricochet! 

Ive posted before about the problem I have that I can easily make a full turn in my practise swing but when i watch my proper swing on video its only half a swing.

Back to my original post as above  - Ive had quite a few lessons and something just stops me making a full swing when there is a ball there.  Ive tried loads of different things but as ive mentioned i think it was something in my head stopping me.

Anyway,  made a bit of a breakthrough last night - after 2 years of trying various things finally made a full swing with the ball there -with the video set up so I know I was doing a full swing.   

BUT>?? 

Ive now established if I watch the club on the way back as oppose to the ball then I can get the club back to parallel ot the target.   At the top of the swing then i had to move my eyes quickly down to the ball,  not great for co-ordination.

Obviously I should be looking at the ball but at least its some progress and I might now be able to move on from there.

Using the method watching the video back I wonder if its the way my head moves back when I watch the club and not the ball gives my arms more room to move under my shoulders perhaps, not sure?

Any ideas as to why this could enable a full swing and any thoughts how i can now move on to the full swing whilst watching the ball and not my club on backswing.

thanks all

J

John, I suffer from a similar problem. My practice swings seem fine (including when I'm on the range) but when i'm on the course my swing goes to pot and I end up topping the ball a LOT. This is definately a mental thing, as I can "feel" that my swing is different when i'm striking the ball on the course.

I read Jon T's post about counting during the swing, and also read a similar tip in one of the monthly magazines yesterday. I will be giving this a try this weekend to see if it helps. Otherwise it's off to the chemist for some betablockers :-)

 James